WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A genetic trait that gives some people a boost in fighting off
toxins could help explain cases of Gulf War syndrome, researchers said Wednesday.
The gene could explain why some soldiers were afflicted with the syndrome -- which has a
wide range of symptoms from flu to chronic fatigue to asthma -- the team at the University
of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas said.
Many experts have concluded that Gulf War syndrome does not exist but researchers remain
intrigued by it. Thousands of British and U.S. veterans complain they have it and
criticize their governments for doing nothing about it.
``One of the biggest questions about Gulf War syndrome has been why one person got sick
when the person next to him didn't,'' said Dr. Robert Haley, chief of epidemiology at the
school, who led the study.
``That is one of the major puzzles that made many people think the symptoms were just due
to stress,'' Haley, whose research is funded in part by the Department of Defense, added
in a statement.
``But now we know that there appears to be a genetic reason why some people got sick and
others didn't, and this genetic difference links the illness to damage from certain
chemicals.''
Writing in the journal Toxicology and Applied Pharmacology, Haley's team said a gene that
controls production of an enzyme known as type Q paraoxonase, or PON-Q, which helps the
body destroy toxins, might be responsible.
It is highly specific for the chemical nerve agents sarin and soman as well as for the
common pesticide diazinon.
``In our earlier studies when we found strong statistical links between Gulf War syndrome
and veterans' reports of exposure to combinations of chemicals like pesticides and
low-level chemical nerve agents, we predicted it might be due to a PON-Q deficiency, and
now that's what we have found,'' Haley said.
``The sick veterans in our study have low PON-Q levels in their blood, and the well ones
have high PON-Q levels.''
Haley's group had linked three different neurological syndromes to the use of
pesticide-containing flea collars, highly concentrated insect repellent and pills
formulated with pyridostigmime bromide to counteract the effects of nerve gas, as well as
exposure to low-level chemical nerve agents.
They now plan to test a random sample of veterans from the 1991 conflict, in which Iraqi
troops were ousted from Kuwait, to see if their theory holds true.